In advance of the long-awaited arrival of its first Airbus A350-900, Emirates has been revealing the efforts it has gone to over recent months to prepare its pilots and cabin crews for the arrival of the new widebody fleet. According to the airline, it has invested around US$48 million in “cutting-edge equipment and systems to support both pilot and cabin crew training.”
These suites include three full-motion flight simulators integrated with innovative pilot support systems (PSS). The carrier has also secured a fixed base training device, a cabin emergency evacuation trainer, and a cabin door trainer. The carrier claims that “this investment reflects the airline’s commitment to achieve the ultimate standards and excellence in crew training.”
Of the three A350 full-flight simulators, the first is already in use while the second simulator is currently in its onsite acceptance stage and is scheduled to receive EASA approval in November 2024. Meanwhile, the A350 fixed base training device replicates the flight deck, using visual and audio systems to make training sessions as realistic as possible, allowing for speedier training of crews in certain procedures that don’t require the functionality of a full-flight simulator.
The PSS allows trainees to carry out an interactive flight deck set-up, including building a flight plan, in a fully immersive environment. The set-up is recalled once the trainees move inside the simulator to resume their training. The PSS’ debrief mode allows the instructor to playback the recorded session to review crew performance.
“Spearheading innovation is at the core of Emirates’ DNA, and that is reflected in our newly acquired A350 training equipment suites and our advanced pilot training facility set to open later in the year,” said Captain Bader Al Marzooqi, Emirates’ Senior Vice President of Flight Training. “We’re proud that we now have the potential to expand our pilot training capacity by 54%. With our investments in the new simulators and systems, our pilots and cabin crew are equipped, trained, and supremely confident to manage any operational challenge safely and competently.”
So far, Emirates says it has trained nearly 30 pilots and 820 cabin crew members on the A£50 training devices and suites. By the end of November 2024, more than 50 pilots will have completed their training on the A350 full-flight simulators before the aircraft enters service. The first aircraft is expected to arrive with the carrier in the coming weeks, having started its flight-testing program at Airbus’ facility in Toulouse, as previously reported by AeroTime.
Looking to the future, Emirates has 65 A350-900s on order from the manufacturer plus 205 Boeing 777Xs. Both new types will support the airline’s expansion goals as it looks toward the end of this decade and the start of the next.
Additionally, Emirates is all set to open its advanced pilot training facility later in 2024. The facility can house six full-flight simulator bays for the A350 and Boeing 777X aircraft. Across the airline’s entire pilot training campus, Emirates pilots have access to 17 full-flight simulators offering a capacity of more than 130,000 training hours a year.
